For Sale, 'The Bible Story'

I've just received an email from a Sue Hammond who informs me that she has the full set of 'The Bible Story' for sale! (issues 1-29). This is the complete set and I believe that they are in the original binder.

This collection is a must have for Bible illustrators, and complete sets don't come up for sale often. The 'Bible Story' magazine was published by 'Look & Learn' in the sixties and contains some great illustrations, (especially the ones by Jack Hayes, see sample above). More about the Bible Story magazine here.

Sue is looking for £30 for the set which is very reasonable and the postage will cost £12. which I am assuming is within the U.K. So an international buyer would need to check out the international shipping costs with Sue. Buyers in the U.K. might be able to collect.
Anyone who is interested can email me, and I will pass on Sues email address. Don't leave it too long though, this will sell quickly!

above image is © lookandlearn.com

Guest Bible Artist interview #2

Keith Neely

Being a full time Bible illustrator is probably one of the rarest, if not THE rarest occupation on the surface of the planet! Keith Neely has been doing just that for the last 4 years and has kindly agreed to do an online interview with the 'Bible illustration blog'.
Keith lives in Indiana, U.S. with his wife Roberta. They have 5 grown children and 7 grandchildren, (with 2 more on the way!)
Keith and his team have almost completed 'The Illustrated ICB Bible' for U.S. publisher Thomas Nelson.

Keith, when did you start illustrating as a career?
After receiving my BFA from Art Center College of Design in CA in1972 I worked at Disney, Christian Brothers Visual Communication, an Advertising agency in Chicago, I even taught Advertising Illustration and Advertising Design at BIOLA College, La Mirada, CA. In 1981, I pretty much settled into Free Lance Illustration.


Is 'The Illustrated ICB Bible' completed, and how long have you been working on it?
We started in December 2003 and we should be finished in the summer of 2008.There will be 7,692 full color illustrations so it’s taking a little time. The 4 Gospels, Acts, Genesis and Exodus are out in individual paperbacks and the entire New Testament is out in hard cover.

7,692 pictures, Wow! That must be some kind of world record! Do you work alone or do you share the task?
I have some great talented people working with me. Dave Miles (artist@davidmiles.us), and James Balkovek (fineart@uninets.net), who is doing all of the drawings for the Old Testament.

There are a lot of Illustrated Bibles out there, what makes your Bible different from the rest?
All the other Illustrated Bibles are actually selected stories, re-told, from the Bible. During the 35 years I’ve been illustrating Sunday school materiel, I often wondered why the actual and complete Bible wasn’t illustrated. I suppose publishers felt that actual scripture would be over a child’s head so they simplified it for them and left out the less exciting stories, which would make a Bible storybook too heavy for a child to carry around any way. I believe The Word of God speaks to children as well as adults and that God had a purpose for including the “less exciting” stories and that I shouldn’t take the responsibility of deciding what scriptures children should not see. Don’t hear me say the other Children’s Bibles don’t have their place; in fact I know God has been talking to kids though them for years (including me) and many of them are beautiful like Jeff Anderson’s “Graphic Bible”. So, in answer to your question, “The Illustrated ICB Bible” is the ONLY illustrated Bible. Your readers can see for themselves for FREE at: ThomasNelsonillustratedBIBLE.com


I came across 'the Gospel of John' on the web (ThomasNelsonillustratedBIBLE.com), and I noticed that there was no way to buy the book at that site. What is the purpose of the site then?
I wanted the Gospel to be available to kids, and adults, all over the world for FREE.Thomas Nelson, the publisher of 'The Illustrated ICB Bible' series, agreed to allow us to set up the site knowing that it would cost them sales for the same reason.

How long will it have taken you to complete 'The ICB Illustrated Bible'?
About 5 years.

You've already mentioned Jeff Anderson. What other Bible illustrators have inspired you over the years?
Michael Dudash ( www.cmdudash.com ) and  Ron DiCianni ( www.tapestryproductions.com )

Does illustrating the Bible take up all your time, or are you working on other projects also?
I still do a few Sunday school jobs from time to time for old friends and I have some ideas for future projects but 95% of my time is dedicated to finishing this Bible.

Keith reads the Christmas story proof pages to the Grandkids, (below).


What do you find challenging when illustrating Bible stories?
Trying to find the balance between historic accuracy and perceived accuracy (what kids think is accurate because they have seen it in art for years). For example, Biblical people probably sat on pillows on the floor and ate at low tables (Roman style) or on the floor (eastern style) but we grew up seeing them sitting in a chair and eating at a table (Rembrandt style). So what is an Illustrator to do? You don’t want to confuse the Kids or draw attention away from what’s happening in the story and yet it should be accurate. The editor, the boss, will be happy to tell you what to do. When I’m the boss (a new experience for me) I go for perceived accuracy. After all, I’m doing the Bible not a history book. If something is going to suffer, I would rather it be Historical truth, not God’s Spiritual truth. It’s too bad there is a conflict at all.

What advice would you give to other Bible illustrators?
Hang in there! If anything should be illustrated (made more clear and understandable), it’s God’s word. A photograph of a model just doesn’t work because it doesn’t allow for your imagination to make an illustration of a person, actually that person instead of the model. So there will always be a need for Biblical Illustrators.

Keith, many thanks for your time!
Above images are © Keith Neely/ Thomas Nelson 2007

Related posts:
Interview with Jeff Anderson
Interview with Diana Shimon
Interview with Dr Leen Ritmeyer

Happy Birthday B.I.B!

Today is the official 1st birthday of the 'Bible illustration blog'.
A total of 12,876 visitors have read 37,925 articles in the last 12 months!

I would like to give a big thanks to all the regular readers & contributors, and look forward, God willing, to posting more new articles, interviews and reviews over the coming months.

Many thanks & best wishes to all!
Graham

Update:1st Nov 2007
Readership of the blog continues to grow steadily. In the month of October just gone, we had 2,219 visitors who viewed 6,720 pages! That's roughly 550 visitors a week, and 699 more visitors than last month!

The Crucifixion (Part 2)

I have just finished the second set of pictures which concludes the story of the crucifixion. Click here for more details!
In picture 7, (sample shown), we see the chief priests who went to complain to Pilate about the inscription that had been written above the cross of Jesus. He replied "What I have written, I have written!"

You will notice the phylactery or tefillin (shel yad), around the left arm of one of the chief priests, notice the way that the strap is wound around the middle finger to form the hebrew letter yod. Further knots are tied to represent other hebrew letters, (shin & dalet), which together form the hebrew word Shaddai (Almighty) one of the divine names of God.

A good friend of mine who was formally a member of the ultra orthodox group 'chabad' was telling me recently that a truly kosher tefillin can cost in excess of $2,000! There is more fascinating information about phylacteries, and how to wear them here.

I must confess that I have placed the head tefillin, (shel rosh), in the wrong place as the box which contains the scrolls should be worn above the hairline! This information may be helpful to other Bible artists.

In picture 8 we see the soldiers casting lots for the seamless garment of Jesus. There were different ways that lots were cast in Bible times, but most scholars agree that the Romans during this period would probably have used dice very similar to those that we use today. For reference, I found photos of ancient roman dice, (from this period), that were carved from soft stone.

It's worth bearing in mind that the garment that the soldiers were casting lots for would have been dirty, sweaty, and soaked in the blood of Jesus, as it was put back onto Him just after the scourging. Despite this, the garment was still valuable in the eyes of these roman soldiers. Some suggest that the fact that Jesus owned this seamless garment shows that He was very wealthy! I don't believe that the seamless garment speaks of the wealth of the Lord Jesus, but rather His office as High priest. The seamless garment, (woven throughout), was exactly the same type worn by the high priest in the Old testament, made in exactly the same way! The Lord Jesus is the great 'High Priest' after the order of Melchisadec, (Heb 5:6). He will not lay down this office like those of the Aaronic priesthood had to, by way of death, because "He ever liveth, to make intercession for us" (Heb 7:25).

The Lord Jesus can be seen talking to Mary & John from the cross in picture 9. I'm always amazed when I read the words in John 19:26. "When Jesus therefore saw...." Here is Jesus, beaten to near death, and nailed to a cross! Surely now, his ministry of caring was over! Yet we find Him looking down on a crowd, and in that crowd He sees a need! "When Jesus therefore saw His mother..." He then graciously answered that need, "behold your son!" Amazing love!

This is also the point where the Lord says "I thirst", and takes of the soured wine vinegar offered by the soldiers. This was a cheap wine that soldiers and labourers liked to drink. This should not be confused with the wine mingled with gall offered to Jesus before the crucifixion, (Matthew & Mark), which He refused. The wine & gall acted as a pain-killing narcotic, and was offered to those who were about to be crucified to take the edge off the excruciating pain.

In the back-ground of picture 9 you can also see two soldiers fastening a sponge to a branch of hyssop and pouring on the wine from a small flask.

In picture 10 we see the centurion stopping a soldier from breaking the legs of Jesus. As we read in part 1, the breaking of the legs of a crucified victim was a way of speeding up death. There was no need to break the legs of Jesus, as He was already dead.
The Lord Jesus is a type of the Passover lamb. In Exodus 12:46 we read that the pascal lamb was to have none of its bones broken. It is also interesting to note that at the exact time of the crucifixion, (noon, on the day of preparation), thousands of passover lambs were being slaughtered in the temple at Jerusalem.

In picture 11 we see Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea who were both respected members of the Sanhedrin asking permission from Pontius Pilate to take down the body of Jesus from the cross. So strong was their love for Jesus that they willingly became ceremonially unclean by their contact with a dead body, (see Numbers 5:1-3, Leviticus 21:1,11). Consequently, they would have been unable to celebrate the Passover Sedar with family and friends the following day.

In picture 12 we see the limp body of Jesus being placed in the tomb.
The first persons to see this picture asked the question "Wouldn't rigor mortis have set in by now?" I had thought about this when I was drawing this scene. The process of rigor mortis begins 2-4 hours after death. The first signs are visible in the jaw and neck of the victim. It then progresses in a head to foot direction, the whole process taking 8-12 hours to complete.
Let's say that it took an hour for Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea to ask permission from pilate to take down the body of Jesus from the cross following His death. Then, let's say it took a further hour to take down the body of Jesus and lay it in the nearby tomb. That would mean that the early signs of rigor mortis would only just be showing. So the answer to the question is "No, the body of Jesus would still be limp at this point!"

It was a few hours before sundown when the body of Jesus was buried. You can see that the sun is low in the sky from the angle of the suns rays that are shining into the tomb entrance.

It would be wrong when writing a post about the crucifixion, not to include the Gospel message, so please take the time to read it here!

There are six pictures in this set, which brings our total Bible picture count to 691.

Can you help?

It's almost a year since the 'Bible illustration blog' was launched. Over 12,000 visitors have viewed almost 36.000 pages since it began.

The 'Bible picture website' now has almost 900 registered customers in over 30 countries worldwide! From Greenland to Guatemala, and from Hong Kong to Haiti. Although this sounds healthy, In internet terms, we are still relatively unknown. The 'Bible picture website' won't become self financing until we at least double our present customer base. This is where you can help!

There are two ways that you can help us to make the site more widely known:
1). If you have a website, no matter how small, you could link to
www.biblepicturewebsite.com
As a thank-you, I will be adding a section for reciprocal links titled 'Sites that link to us'. This will appear below the blogroll in the right hand column. (It should be noted that the 'Bible illustration blog' may not agree with the views expressed in these sites).

2). If you click on the above poster, you can download a larger version which shows samples of our Bible pictures. This poster can be printed out and displayed on either a Church notice board, in a Christian coffee shop, a Christian bookshop, or perhaps on a school staff notice board.

If you can help us by completing either of the above requests, please let us know via email so that we can say thanks! I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our regular customers for their custom and support over the years.

There are some who have emailed me, who would like to support us, but they are not involved in running a children's club or Sunday school. We have been thinking about producing sets of notelets using the Bible pictures, and possibly jigsaws or calendars using our images. This would be a way for those, who are not involved in youth work, to show their support by buying such products from our website. Let us know if this would appeal to you.

The Bible picture website is not only striving to produce high quality, Biblically accurate pictures for those involved in presenting the Bible message to children, we are also producing Bible Exhibitions that tour schools across the U.K and Germany. If you would like to support this work, or would like more information click here.
Many thanks again & God bless.

'ICC Competition' Winners!

Congratulations to the winners of the second 'International Christian Comics Competition'! Especially to Kevin Dzuban, (USA), who won first prize for his entry "An Adventure of Faith".
''Cranky Bob's Sheep Parable'' by Matt Baker, (Australia), came in second, and
"Safe Landing" by Ben Hartnett, (Australia), took the third prize.

Congratulations also to Fernando (Gade) de Souza, winner of the 'Amateur' section for his entry "Book of Solutions"

There's still time, (If you're quick), to vote for your favorite in both the Professional and Amateur sections for the 'Peoples Choice Award'. Click here. to view the exhibition.
Well done to Nate for organizing such a great competition!

Guest Bible Artist interview #1

Jeff Anderson
Jeff is our first 'Guest Bible Artist' to be interviewed on the Bible illustration blog.
Jeff is based in the U.K. and illustrated the 'Lion Graphic Bible' back in 1998. I asked if I could do an online interview with him, and he kindly agreed.

When did you start illustrating as a career?
I attended Art Collage in the late seventies and started working as an illustrator around 1980, first of all in a Greeting card studio, then as a freelance. At first I did any thing that came along from educational books to pub signs. But my real love was always comic and I started working for Marvel and Fleetway around 1984/85.

How long did it take you to illustrate the 'Lion Graphic Bible'?
Well, I was working on a couple of books for Lion called ‘Shadows Edge’ and we talked about doing the Bible a couple of times but it seemed too big a project. After a while we decided to give it a go, and I started working on roughs in February 1994 and I finished in August 1998. There were others things going on at the same time, but the Bible was my main interest and focus.

What advice would you give to an artist about to illustrate the Bible?
Think long and hard.

What's your next Biblical illustration project?
I’ve just completed a Theology degree and as part of my work I produced a treatment of The Gospel of Luke, I only got about half way through the rough stage. At some point in the near future I’ll get back to working on it.

What other Bible artists have influenced or inspired you?
I’m a massive Frank Bellamy fan and love the King David series he did for Eagle; and I like the Frank Hampson version of the life of Jesus as well, though it has become a little dated! But what both Mike Maddox and myself wanted to do was just produce something that would stand up to any thing else in the market.

What difficulties did you experience finding Biblical references?
When I was working on the Graphic Bible it was a case of going to the library and looking around bookshops for books that would be helpful. There is also a good resource center here in Durham so I joined that and used that a lot. Lion also provided photocopies and refs as well. I remember spending ages looking for a good ref for the particular type of sheep found in the middle east, nowadays I would just Google it!

I believe that you've had a change of profession? Tell us more.
Yes, I was ordained in July ’07, a journey that has taken about six years.

Did illustrating the Bible lead you toward this choice?
Yes it did, working on something like that certainly makes you think about how you want to work out your faith and life as a Christian. Over a time of working out where I went next it became clear that I was being called towards working full time as an ordained minister.

Did your talent come in handy when training for the ministry?
Insofar as it allowed me to work on an adaptation of Luke, and get out of a few essays!

Will you be using your art in your new parish?
We use a lot of computer presentations for services so I’m able to do bits and pieces for that and I as I said I’m hoping to get back to the Luke adaptation sometime.

I noticed that you took the bold decision to move away from the traditional choice of clothing for the Lord Jesus. What led to that decision?
What we wanted to do was give some sort of impression of the progression of time, rather than just have a people wearing tea towels on their head. With Jesus we thought we should keep to some sort of classic portrayal with the treatment of facial features and such. But we wanted to make him different from those around him in some way, other than that I can’t remember how we arrived at the colour of clothes and such. One thing we did want to do is make him look as though he could get up on to your roof and fix it. Can’t imagine Robert Powell do that.

Your pictures have been well researched. I noticed the dark blue stripes on the prayer shawls, the authentic carpentry tools in Joseph's workshop, and no domes on your buildings! What source of research did you find most helpful?
Again it was just a case of trawling around the library and bookshops for the right thing.

Jeff, Thank you very much.
If you are a Bible illustrator, and would be happy to give an interview on the Bible illustration blog, please drop me an email.
All illustrations above are © Jeff Anderson 2007

Related links:
Interview with Keith Neely
Interview with Diana Shimon
Interview with Dr Leen Ritmeyer

More Biblical costume reference!

I know it's hard to believe, but I've finally got around to adding more Bible costume reference photos to BibleArtist.com.
The delay has not entirely been my fault! (I've had to wait for photo's).

The latest set have been sent in by David Scott from CMJ. (Thanks David). David also recommended the 'Nazareth Village project,' which I hadn't come across before. It's worth a visit, and has some really nice photos.

If anyone else has some good photo's of Biblical type clothing, please get in contact, or leave a comment!

The Crucifixion (part 1)

My apologies for the delay since my last blog entry, but things have been hectic!
One of my daughters is getting married soon, and there's been lots to organize!

The latest set of pictures to be added to the 'Bible picture website' is part one of the 'Crucifixion'.
There are six pictures that cover the story from the scourging to the crucifixion itself. Part two is almost finished.
For some reason it's really been a battle to get this set done! I've never quite felt as much spiritual opposition as I have while working on this particular set.

Below are a few notes on the pictures themselves.
In picture 1 we see the scourging. The condemned prisoner would have been bound to a post and whipped 39 times, sometimes more, using a roman flagrum or flagellum which was a short leather whip which divided into several throngs at the end. Each throng was weighted with lead balls and sharpened pieces of sheep bone or metal. This was designed to rip through the flesh and cause severe blood loss. Many victims died from the scourging alone.

In picture 3 we see the Lord Jesus stood before Pilate wearing the purple robe and crown of thorns.
When you read the account in John, the divine authority of Jesus over the whole situation is very clear.
Pilate, rather than being in charge, was utterly powerless before Christ! The Lord Jesus, although badly beaten, was in total control!
For this reason I've drawn the Lord Jesus silhouetted in an archway. The backlit figure dressed in a robe and crown of thorns looks powerful! I added a slight glow over His eyes also, but one of my daughters said that it made Him look too scary!, so I removed it. I was trying to capture the awesome power and nobility of Christ that willingly lay dormant in the now badly beaten Jesus.

Picture 4 shows Pilate now seated outside the judgement hall in the area called 'Gabbatha' which can be translated 'the pavement' or 'mosaic'. According to William Hole, "access was obtained by a flight of steps. In the centre of this pavement was a slightly-raised platform, upon which was placed the curule chair of the procurator, with seats to the right and left for the assessors; other officers occupying benches on the lower level."
(The Life of Jesus of Nazareth)
I recreated a mosaic floor from an actual roman mosaic for this picture, unfortunately, it can't be seen for the crowds-!!

In picture 5 we see the Lord Jesus carrying the patibulum, or crossbar of the cross, which was up to six feet in length and weighed up to 125 pounds! (the entire cross being too heavy to carry). A tablet listing the crimes of the person was hung around the neck for all to read, and then later nailed to the cross. The crime of Jesus being the 'King of the Jews'. Some Bible artists show the Lord Jesus at this point just wearing the loincloth. I almost did the same thing until I read all the gospel accounts. Only Matthew and Mark mention that they put His own clothes back on Him just prior to this event.
I chose not to use any of the available references for the 'Via Dolorosa' as the original route to the cross, apart from being unknown, is also likely to be under several feet of rubble!

The Cross
The final picture in this set shows the crucifixion. One of the problems of researching anything on the internet is that you can read many conflicting expert accounts. The crucifixion is no exception!
Many Bible artists have chosen to depict the mode of crucifixion in several different ways depending on the particular article they happen to have read. For instance back in the 1930's, Dr Pierre Barbet, (one of the most widely quoted scientists in crucifixion research), performed many experiments which consisted of him actually crucifying dead corpses in order to see which method of crucifixion was most likely.

He concluded that the area known as 'Destot's space' which is the space between the bones of the wrist, would have been the most likely location of the nails to effectively support a crucified body. This led many Bible artists to move the location of the nails on their pictures from the palms to the wrists. However, more recent research shows, (in great detail), that Barbet's work was flawed in certain areas. Many experts in 'crucifixion science' have now gone back to favoring a particular area of the palms as the most likely location for the nails. There are very many scholarly articles written by forensic scientists and surgeons on this subject that are well worth reading.

There is also evidence that the method of crucifixion varied in different parts of the Roman empire, (e.g. There were 5 different variations of the roman cross), but in order to ascertain the particular method used in the gospels, it's important to pay attention to what the scriptures say.
For instance, there is evidence that some crucified victims had their knees bent up to waist level, their hips turned side-wards, and the nail entering the side of the heal and exiting the side of the other heal, effectively pinning the feet side by side. This has led to some Bible illustrators choosing to depict this mode of crucifixion for the Lord Jesus.

There are two problems with this. One, we know from scripture that the roman soldiers wanted to brake the legs of the crucified victims in order to speed up their death. We also know that the reason the roman soldiers broke the victims legs, (below the knee), was to stop them from lifting themselves up, which a crucified person needed to do in order to breath! If the legs were already bent up to the waist, there would be no reason to brake the legs!
Secondly, when you view the skeletal remains of a victim crucified in this way, the iron nail clearly shatters the bones of the heal, yet scripture makes it clear that no bones of the Lord Jesus were broken.

These are the reasons that I have chosen to portray the crucifixion in what would probably be considered the traditional method. Your comments are always welcome!

In closing, I've just heard that these pictures have been used for the first time last week in a childrens holiday club.
The club was well attended by over 100 children every day.
When it came to the crucifixion, a small boy burst into tears and gave his heart to the Lord! Please pray for him.

This picture set brings the total Bible picture count to 685!

Wrong Email Address!

For some time now, people have been experiencing problems emailing me direct.
I've only just realized that the email address in my profile was wrong!
It's now been corrected. My apologies.

Latest V.I.R. News Update!

C.E.F.
We had a call last week from C.E.F. Europe, with a view to us producing Bible pictures for them! C.E.F. Europe run over 3,000 children's clubs across Europe reaching 400,000 children each year, and their resources are produced in 29 languages!
A chap from C.E.F. is flying to the U.K. to meet us in a few days. We are hoping that we can work together with C.E.F. in the future.

U.B.M.
United Beach Mission are using our resources on a national scale this year.
Their teams will be out in force around the coasts of the u.k. during the summer months, (that's if we get a summer this year, it's like the monsoon season at the moment!) Please pray for the U.B.M. teams.

N.T.M.
'New Tribes' continue to use our resources, in fact our very first internet sale was to a missionary in Greenland! Here's a photo of our pictures being used by missionaries in Thailand.

Free Bible coloring pictures!
We were asked a while ago if we could help out some missionaries in Guatemala by supplying them with coloring pictures to go with their Bible lessons for children:
"Aventura a través de La Biblia"
This is something that I am trying to do in my 'downtime' (which I don't have much of!)
Each picture has a Bible memory verse in Spanish and will also be made available for free download via the 'Sermons4kids' site in the U.S. Watch this space!
2,500 children in Guatemala will be using these pictures every week! So it's a worthwhile project.

'Judging the Competition'
I have been asked by Nate Butler, (President of ICC) if I would take part as a judge in the second 'International Christian Comics Competition'. There will be a judge from each continent so it's truly an 'International' event.
I'm really looking forward to viewing the competition entries.
You can view all the entries to the competition here. Enjoy!

'New 3D Books!'
We have four new 3D books in the pipeline! The new 3D conversions of our latest Bible pictures look really stunning! (Thanks Jim). Can't wait for these new books to come out!
That will give V.I.R. ten titles in all, and 60,000 books in print! 'Small fry' in publishing terms, but we're pleased that the books are continuing to sell well! I'll let you know when we have a publishing date for the new titles.

We would appreciate your prayers for all the above projects.

'The Bible Story'

Some of you may remember me asking about 3 weeks ago,
"if anyone has any back issues of 'The Bible Story' I'd be very interested", Well, it just so happens that Gill Donaldson from Edinburgh had been clearing out her mothers attic, and came across a complete set of them still in the red and gold binder from when she was a child.

Gill then went onto the internet to search for more information about the magazine, and came across my 'Look & Learn' post!
To cut a long story short, she very kindly allowed me to purchase them, and they are now in my possession!
The collection is in the original binder holding the complete set of 29 issues in mint condition from 1964! And they are superb! The binders were only made to hold 26 issues so the last 3 are loose.
In issue 29, on page 11 there's a full page ad which announces:
"The Editors of The Bible Story announce that as from next week's issue The Bible Story will be incorporated in Look & Learn"

So, issues of 'Look & Learn' dated around 26th September 1964 onwards would have included the continuation of 'The Bible Story' series. Does anyone know how many combined issues followed? If anyone has some of these combined issues, I'd be very interested! (It worked the first time!) :0)
Presumably, the publishers were not selling as many copies of 'The Bible Story' as they had hoped to, and therefore decided to incorporate it into 'Look and Learn'. This would also explain the 3 loose copies!

Thanks to the index that Gill enclosed, (which names almost every artist in the collection), I can now put a name to just about every Bible Artist that I know of! It seems like almost every children's Bible for the last 30 years has included some artwork that appeared in 'The Bible Story' collection!

There are two artists in-particular that stand out. One is Jack Hayes, and the other, Paul Rainer. (Rainer seemed to work in black & white pastel). Above is a sample of Rainer's work. (Image © 'Look & Learn' Magazine Ltd).
Other good artists who contributed include:
James E McConnell (Who did many of the covers).
Don Lawrence
Fortunino Matania
John Millar Watt
Henry Seabright
Selby Donnison, and many more! Sadly, some of the excellent artwork listed in the index remains anonymous.

My only criticism of 'The Bible Story' magazine was the print quality. When you compare the Jack Hayes cover art #22 'The Death of John the Baptist' with the scan of the original artwork displayed on the Look & Learn website, there is really no comparison. Other than that, this collection is still a 'must have' for any Bible artist. It's not just the artwork that is excellent, There are weekly articles on animals of the Bible, everyday life in Bible times, who's who in the Bible etc, etc. It really is packed with info!
A big thanks to Gill Donaldson, and to her son who so carefully parceled the book!

Posts on other helpful books:
The Great Bible Discovery series
Finding Harold Copping
The World Jesus knew
The Splendor of the Temple

Techailet Tzitzit's and Tallitot!

Following the comments by 'Horseman' on the 'Zacchaeus' post I decided to do a brief study on the 'Jewish prayer shawl' to try and find out if there were stripes on prayer shawls in New Testament times. The information below is from various sources including a few 'online chats' with Rabbis!

It will be helpful if I explain first of all that the word "Techailet" is Hebrew for blue, "Tzitzits" are the tassels that hang from the four corners of the Tallit, (Numbers 15:38), and the "Tallit" is the Jewish prayer shawl itself.

Rabbi Schochet, (AskMoses.com), told me that stripes had always been on the Tallit, and that he was not aware of any significance attached to the number, or width of the stripes, (which surprised me). Rabbi Simmons however, said that "there is no halachic legal requirement to have any stripes on the tallit" So lets look first of all at the origins of this custom.

The 'techailet' dye, (which was a dark greenish-blue in color, not unlike the background color of this blog page), was obtained from the fluid of a sea creature called the 'Chilazon' which was found on the coast of Northern Israel.
There is disagreement among scholars regarding what the 'chilazon' actually was. Some say that it was a snail, while others say it was a mollusk or squid. Whatever it was, the dye was incredibly expensive to produce! So much so, that when the Romans conquered Israel in 63 BC, they seized control of this lucrative industry, which forced the remaining Jewish dyers to go underground!
According to Rabbi Shraga Simmons, by the time of the Arab conquest in 639 AD the secret of 'Techailet' was lost altogether! Apparently, dark blue stripes were added to the tallit to commemorate the use of 'Techailet'. Nowadays, because most Jewish authorities are unsure of the chilazon's identity, they would rather not dye any of the strings of the tzitzit.
Some Jewish scholars believe that the true identity of the chilazon will not be rediscovered until the coming of the Messiah.

The use of techailet dye was very important to Judaism, as not only was it used to dye one of the four strings on each of the tzitzits of the tallit, (Numbers 15:38), but it was also used on the priestly garments, (Exodus 25:4).

Conclusion
There are two points I'd like to make with regard to the stripes on the tallit, firstly;
Although there is archeological evidence that Indigo dye, (which was cheaper), was being used as early as 131-135 AD, (40 years or so after the New Testament was completed), It would be unreasonable to suggest that techailet ceased to be used until much later, as only three generations of Jewish dyers could pass on it's secrets until 305AD!

Secondly, would you commemorate something that you still had, or something that you had lost? If the stripes were added to the tallit to commemorate the use of 'Techailet', presumably the secret of techailet had been lost. This would mean that the stripes wouldn't have appeared on the tallit until much later than the 'New Testament' period, (possibly as late as 639AD!).

Personally, I would leave the decision up to each individual Bible artist as to whether or not they use stripes on the tallit. The arguments above are far from conclusive.
If you do use stripes however, they would almost certainly have been dark blue, as they were there to remember the Techialet!
These dark blue stripes later morphed into the black stripes that we see today. Those who use black stripes would rather not imply that they are using techailet on their tallit.
As Rabbi Schochet said "if we had techailet, we would use it to dye the tzitzit strings with, not the tallit garment".

Rabbi Schochet explains below a little more about the significance of the tallit stripes today:
"The Zohar explains that white represents chesed (Divine Benevolence) and the dark blue (or black), stripe represents gevurah (G-d’s severity)". Accordingly, the Tallit is mainly white, with a few stripes of black, showing that G-d is primarily kind. "Furthermore, the mitzvah of reciting the morning Shema begins when it is light enough for one to distinguish between white and techailet. Since we no longer have the techailet, the black stripe in the cloth of the tallit can be used to ascertain whether the time for reading the Shema has yet arrived".

Some scholars don't agree with the last comment as the say that it's still possible to distinguish between techailet & white, even in pitch blackness! but it would be far too dark to read the morning Shema!
Feel free to comment on the above.

The 'Rich Young Ruler'

Our latest Bible picture story is the 'Rich young ruler' taken from Luke 18:18-25.

in picture one, I've illustrated mothers with their children gathered around the Lord Jesus, as this story directly follows the story of 'Jesus blessing the Children' in Luke 18.
The story takes place in an unnamed village somewhere between Galilee, (Lk 17:11), & Jericho (Lk 18:35).

You will notice that I have added techailet stripes to the tallit of the Lord Jesus, and if you look very closely, you can see one techailet thread in each tzitzit on the tallit!
If you're confused, then you need to read my next post on the Jewish prayer shawl!

In picture 3, There is a look of astonishment on the faces of some, as the Lord Jesus allows such a sincere enquirer to walk away!

There are three pictures in this story which brings our total 'Bible picture count' to 679!

Posts on other Bible stories
Blind Bartimaeus
Zacchaeus
Crucifixion part 1
Crucifixion part 2
On the road to Emmaus
The Nativity
Raising Lazarus
Woman taken in Adultery

Bible study aids

Had an email this last week from Dr Andrew Jackson from SmartChristian.com with a list of websites which he thought would be helpful to Bible Artists. Some of the sites are already in my link list, such as the excellent 'Lifeintheholyland.com' (pictured above), but you may find the other sites very helpful also.
I pass on his email & links for your files:

"I have a passion for the lands of the Bible. I studied for a year in Israel during my undergraduate degree, and since 1989, I have been traveling through Turkey (the other Holy Land). Below are a few of the key links from SmartChristian.com that will help you study the Bible in its historical-geographical context".

www.biblemapper.com

www.biblemap.org

www.holylandphotos.org

www.lifeintheholyland.com

www.bibleplaces.com/details.htm

www.studylight.org/se/maps

www.openbible.info/geo

Thanks Andy!

My favorite Bible artists #4

Cicely Mary Barker 1895-1973

Cicely Mary Barker is better known for her 'Flower Fairies', but she also illustrated some wonderful Bible pictures. She obviously loved to draw children and flowers, and both found their way into her Bible pictures.

It is well known that her sister Dorothy set up her own school to help earn money for the family, and Cicely used the children as models to draw from, in both her flower fairy, and Bible pictures.

I love her delicate style, she manages to capture the innocence and wonder in the children's faces as they watched the Saviour. She was also another Bible artist who, like Frank Hampson, thrived on detail. The plants and flowers that she illustrated were observed with complete botanical accuracy. Her figure work was also anatomically perfect!
It wasn't only her color work that was impressive, her pen & ink work was superb also.

Cicely was a delicate child, who suffered from epilepsy, and because of this was educated at her Croydon home. After the early death of her father, she helped to earn money for the family by selling her pictures and poetry. In her later years she was described as a humble, modest lady. She had a strong Christian faith, and was an active member of St Andrews church in Croydon.

More about Cicely Mary Barker here.

Favorite Bible Artist #1 Frank Hampson
Favorite Bible Artist #2 Nestor Redondo
Favorite Bible Artist #3 Clive Uptton

Look & Learn

Thanks to Paul Green for reminding me about the 'Look & Learn' magazine.
I had forgotten how amazing the artwork was!

'Look & Learn' was an educational magazine for children produced in the sixties.
We collected every issue as kids, and kept them in the special binders provided.

'The Bible Story' was produced by the same publisher although I don't recall it. (If anyone has any back issues, I'd be very interested).
You can see from the sample above, (from lookandlearn.com), that the Bible illustrations were superb. The above picture was by an artist called Hayes, (image © 'Look & Learn' Magazine Ltd). Does anyone have any info about this artist? Clive Uptton was also one of the Look & Learn artists.

The artwork in Look & Learn was provided by the cream of British illustrators, and can be viewed at lookandlearn.com . I also include a link to the Look & Learn blog in my newly started 'Blogroll' below. Enjoy!

Zacchaeus

Just finished the latest set of Bible pictures. It's a new version of the 'Zacchaeus' story. Click here for more details.

On the BiblePlaces.com website I was not only able to find a photo of a sycamore tree for reference, but a sycamore tree in Jericho! (Thanks Todd).

We are not told Zacchaeus' age, but I've pictured him around his late thirties. Old enough to have accumulated some wealth, but still young enough to climb a tree!

There are four pictures in this set which brings our total Bible picture count to 676! This story almost completes the first of our 'Bible Exhibition' stands. There will be six in total.

Posts on other Bible stories
Blind Bartimaeus
The Rich Young Rular
Crucifixion part 1
Crucifixion part 2
On the road to Emmaus
The Nativity
Raising Lazarus
Woman taken in Adultery

Drawing the Devil!

One of the Bible stories I will be illustrating soon is the 'Temptation of Christ', This will be a difficult one to illustrate as I will need to interpret the Devil in some way. When you look through different children's Bibles at the story of 'The Temptation of Christ', you realize that few Bible artists agree on what the Devil looks like.

The example shown above is just one interpretation from a children's Bible that I have.
Frank Hampson, in 'The Road of Courage' depicted Satan as a simple shepherd. Some show the devil in a female form, as did Mel Gibson in 'The Passion'. and others still as an Angel.
No doubt Satan could take on any of the above forms and more! But, I can't see any good reason why Satan would appear in any other than his natural form, when standing before Christ. After all, there was no way he was going to deceive Christ as to 'who he was!' The question is, what is the natural form of Satan?

It's safe to say that the usual images we see of Satan, like the one above, are inaccurate. The red, hoofed, fork carrying, figure with horns resembles more the mythological creature Pan.
We do know that Lucifer was a fallen Angelic being, a spirit being who was beautiful in appearance and powerful. There's a lot of debate going on as to whether Satan was a covering cherub or not, according to Ezekiel 28. Any comments on that debate might be helpful.

Because we know that Satan was an angelic being I should point readers to the 'Drawing Angels' post, as I have gone into more detail on the subject of angels there.

Norman de la Cruz had been commissioned to work on a new children's Bible for the Philippine Bible Society. Like me, Mr De la Cruz came from an animation background and so was normally able to rough out many pictures a day.
Everything was going well until he came to illustrate the book of Job! An extract follows from an interview with Mr De la Cruz on the 'Asia Pacific' website.

“And things went fairly well until I got to the Book of Job. Then I ran into trouble. I came to the part where Satan asks God to curse Job. I knew I had to illustrate this somehow, but I became stuck. I realized that for most of my life I had been illustrating evil, violence, but here, faced with the originator of all evil, I was powerless to come up with anything. I just sat and stared at my pencils.
I can draft up to 100 illustrations in a day, but I was truly stuck here, unable to lift a pencil. I wondered if I would ever be able to draw again. That was when it came to me that I needed prayer".

I would be interested to know what his final interpretation looked like. If I'm able to get a copy of this Bible from the PBS, I'll let you know! I would be interested to receive any comments on this subject before I begin work on the story.

My favorite Bible artists #3

Clive Uptton 1911-2006
Clive Uptton was a Wartime political cartoonist for the Daily Sketch between 1940-1942. He was a left handed artist like myself, but wrote with his right hand!
You can actually tell he was left handed from his Bible pictures! (left handed artists draw the shine in peoples eyes on the left hand side! Right handed artists draw it on the right.)
As well as his pen and ink drawings he liked to work in watercolors, oils and acrylics, Following the war he became an internationally successful illustrator, poster artist and painter, painting both landscapes and portraits. In 1930 Clive Uptton added an extra 't' to his name to avoid confusion with another illustrator of the time named Upton.

In the late 1960's Clive Uptton was commissioned to produce 121 full-color Bible illustrations for 'Egermeier's Bible Story Book. I first came across Upttons Bible pictures in the Ladybird Bible stories series, (606A). In my humble opinion he was the best artist in this series. I'm not sure if these pictures were reprints from the 'Egermeier's Bible as I don't have one to compare them with.
It's easy to spot a Bible illustration by Clive Uptton, as all his characters seem to have big brown eyes! I particularly like the facial expressions he manages to capture.

Uptton died shortly before his 95th birthday.

Favorite Bible Artist #1 Frank Hampson
Favorite Bible Artist #2 Nestor Redondo
Favorite Bible Artist #4 Cicely Mary Barker

Bible Exhibitions

Just finished the latest Bible picture story which covers John 18:13-40.
The story includes the 'Trial of Jesus' before Caiaphas and Pilate, and 'Peter's denial'.
There are 8 pictures in this set, and the story is available in powerpoint, or A3 poster form. Click here for details.
This brings our total Bible picture count to 672!

We are temporarily pulling off illustrating the Gospel of John to complete some urgent Bible exhibition work, but don't worry! All the stories that we complete for the Bible exhibitions will be available as normal in powerpoint or poster form from the Bible picture website.

Some of the new stories, (to be completed in the new style), will include:
Birth of Christ
Early years of Jesus,
Temptation of Christ,
Parables of Jesus including:
The lost coin,
The good samaritan,
The prodigal son,
The lost sheep.
Zacchaeus,
Blind Bartimaeus,
The rich young ruler,
Healing of the 10 lepers,
The Transfiguration,
The Ascension, and many more!

If you would like more information about our Bible exhibitions, or would like to host one, contact Jem Hudson at:
jem@foundationmatters.com
The new Bible exhibitions will be touring schools in the UK and Germany.

Biblical theme parks

This post is not really on the subject of Bible illustration, but I thought this off-topic item might be of interest to some.

I recently came across Bruce Barry's website, 'Wacky World Studios' based in the U.S.
Wacky World Studios specialize in producing themed environments for children's churches. Bruce explains his mission here, I think basically the idea is to make children's church more of a stimulating environment for children to be in.
Dave Walkers cartoon above suggests that some youth groups might want to take the concept a step further! To see more of Dave's cartoons visit CartoonChurch.com

I was reminded when viewing the 'wacky world' site of a similar type of work that I used to be involved in. Many years ago, before I started illustrating the Bible, part of my work was to produce concept art for theme parks worldwide. The two samples below were done for a proposed 'Bible theme' visitors centre.
The first one depicts the 'Parting of the Red Sea'. Visitors walk between two gigantic water screens that have movie images of pharaohs chariots and soldiers projected onto them. A larger than life model of Moses is stood on the rocks behind with the pillar of fire by his side.

The second picture shows a full scale model of Goliath that children try to knock down with a carefully aimed stone! There's a touch sensitive pad on Goliath's forehead which, when hit by a stone, causes the model to fall backwards onto the ground!. A boy can also be seen trying to lift Goliath's shield, (bottom right).
Unfortunately, both these ideas never got past the concept stage.


Bruce Barry's site also provides ready done Bible murals for church walls. (see 'Bible murals' in the link list). Speaking of murals, check out the mural that the children in our church worked on here.

Also recently found a link to some 'Biblical theme park' concept art for sale from the early 60's.
'Bible Storyland' was conceived by Disney Promoter Nat Winecoff and should have been built in California around 1960. Check out this early concept art here.

Update: 9 June 08
I've just come across another article about a new proposed Bible theme park for Tennessee here. I think you'll agree that the artists rendering of the 'Exodus experience' looks strangely familiar-!!
And before you ask, No! They never asked me if they could use the idea!

Biblical costume photos

The very first Bible costume photo references have gone up on BibleArtist.com.
With more photos to follow shortly!
The photos were kindly supplied by LEGIO SECVNDA AVGVSTA, The Roman Living History Society based in Winchester, UK. Check out their site here.

The copyright owners have kindly given permission for the photos to be used for reference by Bible artists in their illustrations.
If you have any photos of people in Biblical costume, contact Bibleartist.com
Photo © LEGIO SECVNDA AVGVSTA 2007

DC comics 'Stories from the Bible'

Had a reply recently to an email I sent to Joe Kubert.

For anyone who doesn't know who Joe Kubert is, he is one of the great American comic book artists who worked during the 'Golden and Silver age' of comics for DC. Famous for his work on 'Sgt Rock' and 'Hawkman' amongst others.

I had asked him if any more issues had been printed from the DC Comics 'Stories from the Bible' series which he edited, and Carmine Infantino had published back in the mid 70's.

Mr Kubert told me that although he was Jewish and proud of it, he had fully intended producing the entire Bible, including both Old and New Testament stories in the 'Stories from the Bible' series. Unfortunately, because the workload on him at the time was so great, the series never passed issue one!
Issue one, for those who haven't seen it, covered from 'Creation' to 'Sodom & Gomorrah', and was illustrated by the late Nestor Redondo.

This is one of those 'what if' projects, where we are left to wonder about the amazing artwork that might have been!
Sadly, I can't imagine DC comics or Marvel ever attempting to do a project like this again.
More about Joe Kubert here.

Which Bible clothing colors should I use?

When you come to adding color to your Bible characters, do you ever wonder which colors you should be using on clothing for authenticity?

I've just read a very interesting 40 page booklet titled 'Drawing Bible Pictures'. It was written by W H Whanslaw, and was first published in 1943. (twelve further editions followed).
It's basically a 'How to draw' book for Sunday school teachers, encouraging them to produce their own Bible posters. This booklet has all the usual contents found in a 'How to draw' book such as 'How to draw Heads, Hands, Feet, Animals, Birds, Landscapes, Perspectives', etc, etc. But it also includes some quite in-depth articles on 'Hand/eye coordination', 'How clothing folds', 'Light and shade' and 'Pictorial Composition' which goes into great detail on how the Dutch Masters composed their paintings!

The section that I would like to share with you is about the suggested choice of colors for Bible clothing.

Bible Costume
The upper classes should be shown dressed in long, roomy clothing with borders and fringes to emphasise the social strata. If color is being used purple must be avoided, since only one person - the Roman Emperor - was entitled to wear this color. Bright reds for cloaks should be used sparingly, for red was generally a woman's color; deep red and rich brown-reds may be used, as well as greens, especially emerald green for decorations. Almost any kind and variety of blue may be used to good advantage, either in solid masses or in the form of stripes of various widths.

The lower classes favored browns and blues, pale greens, and all shades of yellow. Women would wear either blue or white dresses, with red and yellow decorative stripes and ornamentation.

A Centurion would wear bronze armour, a red skirt, red at the shoulders, and a scarlet cloak; this cloak was worn only by the officers. The three feathers in the helmet were red with black tips, and showed that he was in the colonial army; the sword was bronze, the breeches dark blue or black, the boots of black or brown leather.

The common soldier wore steel armour with a bronze helmet, chestnut-brown vest and skirt, dark blue breeches and black leather sandals, and carried a shield in bright colors.

I'm not sure how accurate the above notes are, or where W H Whanslaw got his research, but it is interesting reading. If anyone has anything they would like to add on the above subject, please add a comment.

Johnny Hart goes Home!

Just heard today that the brilliant Christian cartoonist Johnny Hart went home to be with his Lord on Saturday. He was 76. He died of a stroke at his home in Endicott, U.S.
A sad loss for his family, friends and fans worldwide.
The fact that he died the day before Easter Sunday, when the world remembers the 'Resurrection of the Lord', must have been a comforting reminder to the family that death is not the end!

My brother and I were brought up on 'The Wizard of Id' strip in the 70's, which he co-created with fellow cartoonist Brant Parker. They were the funniest strips!
I was thrilled to hear that he had become a christian and was involved in the kids work in his church. I'm sure he was a great blessing to them. The kids will miss him.

Hart was best known for his cartoon strip 'B.C', which was launched back in 1958. (the year I was born!)
When he became a Christian he started to introduce Christian themes into the strip which led to much criticism, but what cartoonist worth his salt doesn't have critics? From what I've read about the man, Hart was a good name for him.
He will be missed by all his fans here in the U.K.

Christian artists never stop creating. They just get a bigger palette with more colors!

Raising Lazarus!

The latest Bible story to be illustrated is 'The raising of Lazarus', (John ch11).
The story includes 8 pictures, and is available either as a Powerpoint,
or in A3 Poster format.
In picture 3, you can see the actual town of Bethany in the background. I used an early engraving for reference.

Indications are that Mary, Martha and Lazarus were reasonably wealthy. For instance, we read that Lazarus was buried in a tomb. Most burials at that time were in 'Shaft' graves, which were 6' deep x 20" wide. Tombs were reserved for the wealthy.
We also read in ch-12 how Mary used very costly oil of spikenard, (worth 300 denarii), to anoint the feet of Jesus.

Picture 5 shows Martha telling Mary that the Lord wanted to see her. This story is taking place during the 'Shiv-ah' period, (the Jewish week long period of grief and mourning for close relatives). Mary is in the 'house of mourning'. Those who have gathered to pay their respects, and comfort the two sisters are seated either on the ground or on low stools, as was the custom. The normal chairs being upturned.

Those present have torn their clothes on the right side. The left side, (over the heart), being reserved for the loss of a parent.

In pictures 7 and 8 you can see the freshly whitened tomb of Lazarus.
Edersheim tells us that a mixture of chalk and water was used to whiten sepulchers. This process had to be repeated over time, as rain water would wash the chalk away.
In picture 8, the chalky mixture can be clearly seen on the clothes and hands of those who moved the stone. (see picture).

The story of Lazarus brings our total Bible picture count to 664!

Posts on other Bible stories
Blind Bartimaeus
The Rich Young Rular
Zacchaeus
Crucifixion part 1
Crucifixion part 2
On the road to Emmaus
The Nativity
Woman taken in Adultery

Inking

I had a visit last week from an old friend who now lives in Virginia. Paul Green is a fellow artist, now turned author.

Like me, Paul was brought up on the 'Silver age' of DC Comics. But unlike me, he did go on to draw Superman!

One of the things that we were discussing, apart from the sad deaths of so many of the 'Silver age' artists, was how inking has changed over the years, and how modern inking has become so clean and crisp, it's almost machine like! It's hard to imagine modern graphic novels getting better!

Inking at D C Thomsons
I started my training as a cartoonist back in 1976. Inking in first with a dip pen, but soon progressing to a brush. You don't get the same problems with a brush, like:
spattering,(when the nib catches on the surface of the paper),
beading, (putting too much ink down, which can take ages to dry!).
clogging, (when paper fibres get torn up by the metal nib).

Both 'spattering' and 'clogging' were problems associated with inking onto watercolor paper. Now that digital coloring is here it's no longer a problem, as you can ink onto a smooth surface that can be scanned.
Inking with a brush can take a little longer to master, but it is safer. (I've still got two permanent tattoo's from stabbing myself with a dip pen!)

D C Thomsons was an excellent training ground, for the cartoonist or illustrator, and the biggest studio of it's type in Europe at that time.
It was while training at Thomsons that I was introduced to, what was then called, the 'Continental style' of cartooning. This style of inking appeared in the continental comics such as 'Spirou'.
The undisputed king of 'Continental style' inking, in my opinion, has to be Albert Underzo! So much movement in his line work.
I loved 'Asterix' when I was a child, and even in 2007, few artists come close to his amazing line work!

I've recently been impressed with the inking of Paolo Eleuteri-Serpieri. His work on 'The Great Bible Discovery' series #19, is excellent. At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking that his pictures are overworked, but on closer inspection, every line seems to have a purpose! Serpieri has to be the master of cross-hatching!
No one does it better!

Digital Inking
Digital line work is great when you need a perfect brush line, or when you need to color the line work. (See sample here).
You are pretty much in complete control of a digital line.
Is 'digital inking' cheating? It depends on how you look at it. If you've spent 30 years honing your skills with a brush or a dip pen, you might think so. Or, you could argue that it just makes life easier for everyone. Digital coloring certainly has. Who knows, in years to come, maybe all inking will be digital!
I can't help thinking though. I'm kind of glad that Albert Underzo never had a graphics tablet!

Latest ICC Competition!

Nate Butler is President of 'International Christian Comics ' in Albuquerque, USA..
He emailed me last week with details of the 'latest ICC competition' which I've pasted below.
If you would like to enter, let Nate know a.s.a.p.

We've launched our 2nd International Christian Comics Competition (ICCC)
Submissions should be original, short comics features (1, 2, 3 or 4 pages maximum) that are evangelistic in nature and/or display an aspect of Christian discipleship. The message of the comic should be appealing and understandable to a non-Christian audience, without compromising the message of the Gospel.
True stories, including Bible adaptations and personal testimonies, are encouraged particularly.
For more information, please visit this page of our web site:
http://www.comix35.org/intcompetition2.html

Nate recently visited Japan, and met with some 'manga Bible artists'. His comments are below.

"I had some meetings with manga artists in Japan just last month where we discussed how to portray Adam & Eve in the only way that would be 100% genetically accurate ... about how artists often draw Goliath and other Philistines with the wrong kind of helmet in spite of a great deal of hieroglyphic evidence clearly displaying the look of Philistine soldiers ... about the look of Noah's Ark ... etc., etc. ... all very interesting stuff that I hope to get down in writing someday!"

I'm looking forward to reading all about that Nate. Many thanks!
Graham

The 'Bible Artist' list

You will probably have noticed the recently added list of 'Bible Artists'.
(Green box, right hand column).

I originally intended this to be a 'Bible Artist blogroll', but I soon found out that there are very few Bible artists with a blog! And the few Bible artists that did have a blog, were not blogging about Bible art!
So, I decided to change it to a list of Bible artist links.

Bible Artists
To be included on this list, you need to have either, illustrated a Bible, or have a website with your own Bible art displayed. If that's you, send me an email with your details.

Christian Artists
I also noticed that there are many good Christian artists that don't necessarily have Bible art displayed on their websites. This list is to include them!

Jewish Bible Art
I thought it would be nice to include some Jewish Bible art, so if you're Jewish, and have your own Bible art displayed on your website, send me an email with your details.

Don't forget to vote in the Poll! (Blue box, right hand column).